The French Agency for Secure Documents (ANTS) confirmed on 24 June that its public portal remains offline after a cyber-security breach detected in April exposed personal data from user accounts. As an additional safeguard, the agency placed the entire “usager” portal in maintenance on 24 April and has yet to restore normal operations, leaving foreign residents unable to file new online applications for residence permits, visas de régularisation, driving licences or national identity cards. While applications lodged before the shutdown continue to be processed, applicants can no longer log in to track progress. The agency advises affected users to contact the Citizens’ Contact Centre by phone (34 00 within France or +33 9 70 83 07 07 from abroad) for status updates. Prefectures and France Services counters have also suspended in-person follow-up, citing the same IT dependency. For employers, the outage complicates onboarding of non-EU staff because original residence permits expiring in the meantime cannot be renewed electronically. HR teams should anticipate manual workflows: ANTS recommends that urgent renewals be initiated at the local mairie, where paper “cerfa” forms can still be accepted, albeit with significantly longer processing times. Driving-licence candidates face similar hurdles, as assignment of the NEPH learner-driver number has been paused until the portal reopens.
![Security incident shuts ANTS online portal, freezing French residence-permit and licence services]()
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ can step in to help both individuals and HR teams navigate interim work-permit and travel-document requirements. Our experts guide applicants on compiling compliant paper files, arrange courier submissions where possible, and monitor consular alternatives that bypass the ANTS platform. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/france/
The Ministry of the Interior has not provided a relaunch date, saying only that “all means are being mobilised” to harden the platform. Data-protection authority CNIL has opened an investigation. In the interim, multinational companies are advised to: 1) identify foreign employees whose cartes de séjour expire within 90 days; 2) secure préfecture appointments proactively; and 3) issue explanatory letters to travellers who may face questions during police identity checks. Employers should also review whether posted-worker obligations remain met if electronic attestations cannot be generated.
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ can step in to help both individuals and HR teams navigate interim work-permit and travel-document requirements. Our experts guide applicants on compiling compliant paper files, arrange courier submissions where possible, and monitor consular alternatives that bypass the ANTS platform. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/france/
The Ministry of the Interior has not provided a relaunch date, saying only that “all means are being mobilised” to harden the platform. Data-protection authority CNIL has opened an investigation. In the interim, multinational companies are advised to: 1) identify foreign employees whose cartes de séjour expire within 90 days; 2) secure préfecture appointments proactively; and 3) issue explanatory letters to travellers who may face questions during police identity checks. Employers should also review whether posted-worker obligations remain met if electronic attestations cannot be generated.
